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CIRCULAR

Guiding the application of particularly preferential import tax rates

Pursuant to June 14, 2005 Law No. 45/2005/QH11 on Import Tax and Export Tax and the Government's Decree No. 149/2005/ND-CP of December 8, 2005, detailing the implementation of the Law on Import Tax and Export Tax;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 154/2005/ND-CP of December 15, 2005, detailing a number of articles of the Customs Law regarding customs procedures, inspection and supervision;

Pursuant to the Government's Decree No. 77/2003/ND-CP of July 1, 2003, defining the functions, tasks, powers and organizational structure of the Ministry of Finance;

The Ministry of Finance guides the application of particularly preferential import tax rates as follows:

I. APPLICATION SCOPE, CONDITIONS AND PRINCIPLES

1. Scope of application

Goods imported from countries, groups of countries or territories which offer particularly preferential import tax to Vietnam (below referred to as countries having particular preferential tariff agreements with Vietnam for short) within the free trade area or tariff coalition framework or for facilitation of border trade exchange, and other particular preferential treatments (below referred to as trade agreements for short).

2. Application conditions

2.1. To be eligible for particularly preferential import tax rates, imported goods must fully meet the conditions specified in each of the Finance Minister's Decisions promulgating the Particularly Preferential Import Tariffs for implementation of trade agreements.

2.2. To be eligible for particularly preferential tax rates set by the Minister of Finance, goods (including processed goods) imported from non-tariff areas into the domestic market must satisfy the following conditions:

(i) Being on the corresponding Preferential Import Tariff promulgated by the Minister of Finance.

(ii) Satisfying goods origin requirements, as evidenced by certificates of origin under the Trade Ministry's regulations.

2.3. For imported goods lots with a total value (at FOB price) not exceeding USD 200, certificates of origin (below referred to as particularly preferential C/Os) are not required.

3. Application principles

3.1. Particularly preferential import tax rate applicable to a goods item shall be determined according to a decision (including amended or supplemented ones, if any) of the Minister of Finance, promulgating the particularly preferential import tariff for implementation of a trade agreement, the guidance in this Circular and relevant regulations in force.

3.2. If the preferential import tax (MFN) rate for a goods item specified in the Preferential Import Tariff is lower than the particularly preferential tax rate specified in Vietnam's Particularly Preferential Import Tariff for each trade agreement promulgated by the Minister of Finance, the applicable import tax rate is the MFN rate.

3.3. Particularly preferential tax rates applicable to knock-down details and components in complete sets imported for assembly of mechanical, electrical and electronic products are as follows:

Knock-down details (detail assemblies) and components (component assemblies) in complete sets accompanied with particularly preferential C/Os are eligible for particularly preferential tax rates applicable to complete goods items if they meet the conditions for application of particularly preferential tax rates specified in Section I of this Circular. Other knock-down details and components without particularly preferential C/O are subject to MFN tax rates or ordinary tax rates applicable to complete goods items.

When requesting application of particularly preferential tax rates, enterprises shall present one or several separate commercial invoices for details (detail assemblies) or components (components assemblies) accompanied with particularly preferential C/Os.

Particularly preferential tax rates are applied at the time of tax calculation in accordance with the law on import tax and export tax. Procedures for import tax finalization with customs offices shall be carried out according to current regulations.

The principles for classification of knock-down components in complete or incomplete sets must comply with current legal provisions on classification of imported and exported goods and relevant laws.

3.4. Particularly preferential tax rates applicable to goods processed in non-tariff areas and imported into the domestic market are Vietnam's particularly preferential tax rates applicable to imported processed goods items specified in the Particularly Preferential Import Tariff promulgated by the Minister of Finance under each trade agreement.

3.5. If customs declarants fail to present particularly preferential C/Os at the time of registration of customs declarations of imported goods, but the imported goods satisfy other conditions specified in Section I of this Circular, their import tax shall be temporarily calculated at the MFN rate. When customs declarants additionally present particularly preferential C/Os which are valid under the provisions of Section II of this Circular, customs offices shall re-calculate the import tax at corresponding particularly preferential tax rates according to regulations.

3.6. Imported goods accompanied with C/Os and appended with the stamp "FOR CUMULATION PURPOSES ONLY" are ineligible for particularly preferential tax rates.

3.7. If commercial invoices are issued by a third party other than a signatory to a commercial contract, goods imported into Vietnam are still eligible for particularly preferential tax rates if they fully meet the conditions specified in Clause 2, Section I of this Circular.

II. GOODS ORIGIN AND C/Os

1. Rules for goods to be recognized as originating from countries which have particular preferential tariff agreements with Vietnam are defined in the Regulation on grant of certificates of origin promulgated by the Minister of Trade under each trade agreement.

2. C/Os must bear signatures and stamps compatible with specimen signatures and stamps of competent C/O-granting agencies of the countries having particular preferential tariff agreements with Vietnam. A list of those agencies is specified in the Finance Minister's Decision promulgating the Particularly Preferential Import Tariff under each trade agreement.

3. When customs declarants present back-to-back C/Os granted by intermediary member countries and goods satisfy the conditions specified in Section I of this Circular, particularly preferential tax rates shall be applied. Customs offices shall check back-to-back C/Os according to the origin checking process issued by the General Director of Customs.

4. C/Os of goods imported from non-tariff areas into the domestic market must bear signatures and stamps compatible with official specimen signatures and stamps of competent agencies authorized by the Ministry of Trade to grant C/Os.

5. Regulations on presentation of C/Os

5.1. The time for presenting C/Os to customs offices is the time of registration of customs declarations of imported goods. A C/O presented to the customs office comprises one original which must be valid at the time of presentation. A C/O is valid for 6 months from the date of its grant.

5.2. If C/Os cannot be presented at the time of registration of customs declarations for plausible reasons and customs declarants make a written request for the late presentation of particularly preferential C/Os and commit to present C/Os within the prescribed time limit, heads of Customs Sub-Departments may decide to extend the time limit for C/O presentation for up to 30 days from the date of registration of customs declarations.

If customs declarants present C/Os later than the 30-day time limit and the C/Os are still valid and compliant with documents and results of actual goods inspection (when goods are subject to actual inspection), customs offices shall still accept those C/Os and apply particularly preferential tax rates to imported goods lots and, at the same time, impose the following measures on violators:

a/ Imposing an administrative sanction on the act of presenting C/Os later than the permitted late-payment time limit according to the Decree providing for the sanctioning of administrative violations in the customs domain.

b/ Putting the violator on the list of enterprises which fail to well observe the customs law.

c/ Conducting strict post-customs clearance inspection of imported goods lots accompanied with particularly preferential C/Os.

d/ Refusing to accept the enterprise's tax-guarantee document for goods lots eligible for particular preferences and requiring it to pay tax immediately.

6. When suspecting the truthfulness or accuracy of C/Os, a customs office shall:

6.1. Suspend the application of particularly preferential tax rates and temporarily collect tax at MFN rates if goods fully satisfy the conditions for application of MFN rates; if the goods fail to fully meet the conditions for application of MFN rates, collect tax at ordinary tax rates.

6.2. Request re-examination of C/Os:

- State its suspicion of the truthfulness and accuracy of C/Os and request the importer to supply additional documents (if any) proving that the goods actually originate from a country having a particular preferential tariff agreement with Vietnam; or:

- Request the competent C/O-granting agency of the country of exportation to make certification (the General Department of Customs shall conduct verification based on reports of provincial/municipal Customs Departments).

- The General Department of Customs shall send an inspection team to the country of exportation in order to verify the truthfulness and accuracy of C/Os.

When receiving adequate documents proving that the goods actually originate from a country having a particular preferential tariff agreement with Vietnam, the customs office shall carry out procedures in order to refund to the importer the difference between the tax amount temporarily collected at the MFN tax rate or ordinary tax rate and that calculated at the particularly preferential tax rate.

Before re-examination results are announced, procedures for the release of goods shall still be carried out according to general import regulations.

The order and procedures for requesting re-examination comply with relevant provisions of the Regulation on grant of certificates of origin, promulgated by the Minister of Trade under each trade agreement.

The time limit for considering and accepting a C/O must not exceed 365 days from the date that C/O is presented to the customs office or from the date the customs office suspects the goods origin.

III. CUSTOMS DECLARATION AND INSPECTION

1. General principles

1.1. Customs declaration and inspection of imported goods eligible for particularly preferential tax rates shall be conducted according to current regulations on customs procedures, inspection and supervision, the current process of inspecting the origin of imported goods, and the provisions of this Circular.

1.2. Goods governed by this Circular are subject to customs inspection according to regulations of the General Department of Customs.

1.3. Customs Sub-Departments shall assign customs officers who are capable of carrying out customs procedures for imported goods eligible for particularly preferential tax rates to receive customs declarations, inspect goods, calculate tax, and examine customs dossiers.

2. Customs declaration

2.1. Customs declarants shall adequately, accurately and clearly declare all items in the customs declaration form; determine by themselves particularly preferential tax rates or ask customs officers in charge of guiding the application of particularly preferential tax rates to provide guidance before making customs declaration.

2.2. When declaring applicable import tax rates, customs declarants shall clearly state the Finance Minister's decision(s) under which the particularly preferential tax rates are applied.

2.3. Customs declarants shall prepare dossiers and papers such as C/Os, documents proving direct transportation, etc., to evidence that goods fully satisfy the conditions for application of particularly preferential tax rates.

3. Customs inspection

Customs inspection of goods eligible for particularly preferential tax rates shall be conducted in accordance with this Circular, the Finance Minister's Decisions promulgating Vietnam's Particularly Preferential Import Tariffs for implementation of free trade agreements, the goods origin inspection process issued by the General Director of Customs, and relevant legal documents.

IV. OTHER PROVISIONS

1. Tax bases, collection, payment, exemption, reduction, refund and retrospective collection, claims, handling of violations, and other matters comply with the provisions of the Import Tax and Export Tax Law, the Tax Administration Law, the Customs Law and current guiding documents.

2. In case of changes in goods items under legal documents promulgated by a country having a particular preferential tariff agreement with Vietnam for implementation of a relevant treaty or for other reasons which result in changes in or affect the rights to apply Vietnam's particularly preferential tax rates, the Ministry of Finance shall provide appropriate guidance on a case-by-case basis.

V. ORGANIZATION OF IMPLEMENTATION

This Circular takes effect 15 days after its publication in "CONG BAO" and applies to imports customs declarations registered with customs offices from its effective date. To annul the Finance Ministry's Circular No. 14/2006/TT-BTC of February 28, 2006, guiding the application of Vietnam's particularly preferential tax rates for implementation of the ASEAN Agreement on Common Effective Preferential Tariff (CEPT); Circular No. 16/2004/TT-BTC of March 10, 2004, guiding the implementation of the Government's Decree No. 99/2004/ND-CP of February 25, 2004, which promulgates Vietnam's List of goods and their import tax rates for implementation of the Early Harvest Program under the Framework Agreement on ASEAN-China Comprehensive Economic Cooperation; Circular No. 52/2006/TT-BTC of June 12, 2006, guiding the application of Vietnam's particularly preferential import tax rates for implementation of the ASEAN-China Agreement on Trade in Goods; and Decision No. 35/2006/QD-BTC of June 12, 2006, promulgating Vietnam's 2006 List of goods and their particularly preferential import tax rates for implementation of the ASEAN-China Agreement on Trade in Goods.

All previous provisions guiding the application of particularly preferential import tax rates which are contrary to this Circular are annulled.

Difficulties and problems arising in the course of implementation should be promptly reported to the Ministry of Finance for appropriate additional guidance.